InBetween
by NejiHina100
Summary: The gang goes on a simple mission but lands in a limbo sort of world. Luckily for them, an old friend pops up to help. Set after the war. Rating might change.
1. Chapter 1

It was suppose to be a simple mission. Attack and receive. In fact, they weren't even sure why they were all called for it. It was a level D mission but Kakashi, as the Sixth Hokage, had told them that it was requested on the mission form that they all complete it. Naruto and Sakura, Team Eight, Team Ten, and Lee and Tenten.

_"I understand that it is a very easy mission, attack the enemy and receive the information. Genin should be completing this mission, but the person who sent this request had specifically called for you all. I would have said no but they paid us too great of a price to say otherwise."_ Kakashi said with a sneaky gleam in his eyes. Naruto had to be held back to avoid slapping his former sensei and the Hokage. They all hated the idea. After fighting in the war and achieving the level of skills they all acquired, the mission was too easy to a point where it was down right insulting and quite annoying. However, after more arguing they all gave a sigh and agreed, much to their distaste.

It should have gone smoothly, but someone had other plans. The enemy was smart, really smart. Even Shikamaru couldn't figure it out. Before they could attack the enemy, a bright white light blinded their vision. When they woke up they found themselves in a black void.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked. They all looked to Shikamaru.

"Don't look at me. How should I know?"

"Hey guys, look down." It was Tenten who first noticed the ground below them, or lack of. They found themselves floating but not falling. Suddenly, they all turned their attention to a ticking sound.

"A grandfather clock?" Sakura asked. "Where are we?"

"You already asked that." Shino replied.

"Hinata," Ino asked. "Is this a genjustu?"

The girl in question activated her byakkugan and quickly informed that 'no, it's not'.

"I don't get it. Why are we not falling? Although this is cool, it's kinda making me dizzy."

"This is not 'cool' Naruto. Is anyone else getting a feeling that this is more than a level D mission?" Shikamaru asked.

"Right. And why us? For a supposedly D mission?" Tenten asked.

"We can ask Kakashi when we get back."

"Exactly how do you suppose we go back genius?" Kiba asked.

"Beats me. This is so troublesome." He huffed.

"Would you stop that!" Ino yelled. "You're the only genius here now. Figure something out."

"Why should I? I believe you guys have brains too." Shikamaru yelled back. "Right?"

This resulted in Ino _and_ Sakura both hitting him on the head.

"Looking around there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go. It's just black everywhere and even with my Byakkugan I can't see anything beyond ourselves, except that clock." Hinata informed.

"What if this is it?"

Everyone turned to Lee. "What do you mean?" asked Tenten.

"What if we died?"

No one said a word, all thinking through what had happened before they awoke in this black void.

"Wait, I don't remember anything. Not really." Ino said.

"Me too. I mean, I remember Kakashi giving us a stupid D mission but I can't remember who the enemy is or how they attacked us. Anyone else remember anything?" Naruto was replied back with 'no', 'me neither', and 'nothing'.

"So what do we do? Just sit around until we fall asleep and hopefully wake up back in the real world?"

"It might really help if we knew where we are. I know I've already asked this twice, but does anyone know where we are?"

"You're in the InBetween."

Everyone spun on their heels to the voice spoken behind them. They all nearly gasped and Hinata did.

"Nissan?"

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><p>Yay! Neji! I miss him so much. :'(<p>

Okay, so this is my very first Naruto fic so I hope I do good. Criticism is helpful but please don't be too harsh. I'm not one of those people. I'm a sensitive soul...I feel like that's a song, lol. Oh well. The characters might be off a little but I will try to do my best. If you like this, please look at my other stories. They all are Once Upon A Time so far. Haven't done others yet but branching out. :) Please please please review. They really do help me to continue writing. Really need to get back into that.


	2. Chapter 2

It was him. Standing right in front of them. Dress in his usual white tonic and long ponytail hair. There was one difference about him. His forehead. It was bare of any seal, proving that he did indeed die and this wasn't an illusion of theirs. They were all too stunned to say a word, except Hinata, who was slowly taking a few steps forward.

"Hinata. Wait, this could be a trap." Sakura warned her.

"Nissan?"

"Hello Hinata-sama." He smiled, faintly.

"Neji, are you really here?" Shikamaru asked.

"So to speak. Yes."

"You-you died." Naruto said. "You died in my arms. You can't be here!"

"Wait!" Everyone looked at Shino. Turning to Neji he asked, "What do you mean the In between?"

"The InBetween. It's-"

Everyone waited but he wasn't continuing.

"It's what?!" Naruto yelled.

"It's like a limbo. Between life and death."

If the silence of the void wasn't bearing down on them before, it was now. Death? They were all dead?

"Please tell us there's more to this. I'm not ready to die like some." Kiba said, wanting to bite Sakura for the slap he received for his comment.

"Nissan? What's happening?"

"Yeah, what do you mean we're dead?" Tenten asked.

"Well, you're not dead yet. Do you see that clock?" He asked, pointing to the grandfather that quickly left everyone's mind with the shocking appearance of their late friend. "You have thirteen hours to go back."

"Go back?"

"Back to the living."

"Wait, thirteen? I may be stupid sometimes but I'm not an idiot. There are only twelve hours in a day, not thirteen." Everyone groaned.

"Hey idiot," Ino said, "There are actually twenty-four hours in a day."

"Then why thirteen?"

"It doesn't really matter Naruto. I assume none of you are done with your lives so I suggest you get busy finding a way out or you will die."

"How Neji?"

Ignoring his teammate's question, he turned around began to walk away, knowing they would follow.

"Neji! Where are you going? We can't just walk around in a black void. There are no entrances or exits here. How do we leave?"

Stopping his stride he turned to Shikamaru. "If you find a way, let me know." He turned around and began walking again, but he was stopped again but a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. His precious little cousin.

"Nissan?"

Realizing how the moment might be for Hinata and Neji both, the gang stepped away from the Hyugas to give them a moment or two. It was all too shocking. Too much to take in. Too many questions to ask Neji. Too many hugs to give him. Naruto and Tenten wanted to yell at him for his stupidity of getting himself killed. But Hinata did the one thing she never did when he left them. She wrapped her arms around him.

"I miss you nissan." Tears were flooding her eyes.

The others tried to give them some privacy but it wasn't easy in this void. They couldn't ignore the crack in her voice, or how Neji didn't hug her back. How he immediately tensed when Hinata wrapped her arms around him. How he looked spaced out and tormented. They couldn't ignore the fact that they were all in a limbo. So was Neji. There was one difference between them. They could still live. Neji couldn't. There was one answer. An answer even Naruto could figure out. It was clear on Neji's face. They have seen him before when he looked tortured. Whenever he mentioned the seal in his fight with Naruto. Anything about the Main House. This was different. It was common knowledge that they all knew. When you die, you face your sins. So seeing Neji not hugging his cousin back and looked ever so tortured by it, it was clear.

Neji couldn't moved on.

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><p>Please review. If you haven't guessed by my pin name, I am a lover of NejiHina. Don't care about the cousin thing. However, not so certain that this will be a romance fic between the two but will center around their relationship.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

They were walking around the void for what might had seemed forever if the stupid clock wasn't following them, showing that their thirteen hours already begun. Fifteen minutes were already gone.

"I'm so sick of walking around!"

"Shut up Kiba." Ino complained.

"Well how the hell do we leave? Neji don't you know? You've been here more than the rest of us." This resulted in Kiba receiving another slap from Sakura and a whispered, 'shut up!'.

"We wait."

"For what?"

"Limbo likes to send you to different places each time. This void is like a transition."

"What kind of places?" Tenten asked. Neji remained silent. Before anyone could ask again, they were all dropped into a labyrinth. Naruto fell on Sakura, Kiba on Shino, Shikamaru on Ino, and Neji caught Hinata in a bridal style, gently lowering her down on the ground.

"Thank you Neji-nissan."

"You're welcome Hinata-sama."

Kiba nearly groaned as Neji and Hinata continued to call each other by their nicknames but he bit his tongue, not wanting a third slap by Tsunade's apprentice. With her training, a few more slaps would probably result in a broken cheek. Than she would have to move on to the next one. He didn't want to think about that.

"A maze. So we need to get to the other side?" Naruto asked.

"Technically, it's a labyrinth. We need to get to the middle. That's the tradition."

Ignoring the bug boy, Naruto suggested they all pick one way and follow it and let the others know if their way was the right way.

"I don't think it will be best to split up. We're in limbo. Even if one of us makes it back, there's no guarantee that others will." Shikamaru informed. "Right Neji?"

"You all came together, you all leave together."

"Hey Neji," asked Tenten, "do you know why we're all here? Kakashi sent us on a level D mission but now we think it's more than that. We said that we were all specifically asked for the mission."

Her question sparked everyone's interest once more. Maybe winding up in limbo and meeting their late friend might be connected. They started to have small hope but it was quickly gone when he replied that no, he didn't know.

"I was too busy figh-when you all showed up. I thought I would come and help you all get back home." With that he picked a direction in the labyrinth and started walking. Everyone watched him, so curious to what he was hiding beside what they already concluded. Before they could object, Hinata quickly followed after him. The rest took their own direction, pairing up so someone wasn't left alone, and continued on their way into the labyrinth.

"Nissan? Can we talk?" She remained close to Neji, not wanting to be separated. However, she was started to see him stop so abruptly and turn to her with a stone hard glare, one that she saw before many times.

"Why did you follow me?"

"I-I wanted to-to be with you." She weakly muttered, trying to fight the tears that threatened to come forth.

"You need to stay away from me Hinata. It's not safe."

Before she could say otherwise, he quickly vanished into a nearby fog. She suddenly saw that she was all alone in a limbo, a labyrinth of life and death, and the one person who she greatly missed was rejecting her. Again. Just like before. This was her only chance. Her one chance to tell her cousin everything she had been wanting to for a long time. Long before the Chunnin Exams. During the exams. The many times he saved her and they both returned home. The one time he saved her and he never came home. But he was gone and after his reaction, she came to the conclusion. Either by the grandfather clock chiming the thirteenth hour or by Neji, she wasn't going to make it.

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><p>Review :) If you have any question, please ask and I will do my best to answer.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

She wasn't sure what made her think it. What made her think that she wouldn't survive this InBetween when her cousin had specifically said that since they all arrived together, they all leave together. She figured that it might be since this place was spiritual, it told her. They were ninjas and grew up learning of chakra and nature energy, so they also learned about spirits and their world. This was just another one. However, it wasn't the fact that they were stuck here for thirteen hours until they found a way home that bother her. It was the problem that ran from her. He always did it. Ignoring her.

Not this time. Once she found him, she would tell him everything wether he liked it or not. Now, she just had to find him in this labyrinth.

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><p>While Hinata was looking for her cousin, Naruto and Sakura took their own path along with Tenten and Lee. It made Sakura feel like a fourth wheel. She wasn't sure what to do or say. Naruto always hated his friends sacrificing themselves, even if he did the same thing for them. Tenten and Lee had lost a great friend and teammate. Hoping to break the awkwardness, she muttered a small apology.<p>

"What are you apologizing for Sakura?" TenTen asked.

"Well, it's just that you two lost a friend. I mean-he was my friend too-kinda-I just thought-"

"Guys! Look!" Naruto yelled, interrupting Sakura.

Ahead of the four was a child. Before they could ask what a child was doing in this kind of world, they were all silenced when they noticed who the child was. With the blue hair and lavender eyes, they knew that it was Hinata as a child.

"Do you think this has to do with Neji?" Naruto asked. He ignored TenTen's sarcastic remark of his IQ.

"Perhaps. After all, I think it's clear why Neji is here."

The four looked further down into the labyrinth ahead of them, feeling great pain and grief for their fallen friend.

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><p>Shikamaru decided he hated this place for obvious reason. What he hated was that it messed with your mind and his mind was valuable to him, sometimes. Right now, he needed it and the stupid void and grandfather clock was messing him up. Thankfully, the whole clock didn't follow everyone. Instead, he noticed how it changed from a grandfather clock to different pocket watches, that way everyone would know how much times was left when they split up.<p>

Looking down at his, he saw that thirty minutes has pasted. He never had a problem with time before, in fact, he hated time. It was always so troublesome to know how much of the day was already gone. This place made it worse. It was shifting between time moving too fast and slow. At some points they would feel like a whole hour already went by and others, perhaps a few minutes or less. His thoughts were interrupted when Ino had tripped.

"It must take skill to trip in a spirit world." Kiba teased. He learned it was a bad joke. Although Ino did not have the strength to break his cheek as Sakura did, she did slap on the same one causing him great pain.

Before he could yell, another was heard across the labyrinth.

"Was that Sakura?" Ino asked, worried for her friend.

It was easy to tell who the next scream came from. Naruto.

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><p>It might have something to do with that child that looks like Hinata. ;) Please Review. Thank you.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

They all headed towards the scream. However, finding the source was not easy in the labyrinth. They would take one turn to find them backwards, sideways, or further down. The closer they got, the further away they got. Shikamaru, Ino, and Kiba ran into Shino and Choji causing them all to be knocked out. When they came to they noticed that instead of many turns left and right, there was one long hallway.

"Which way should we go?" Ino asked.

"Well I don't suggest we split up again. We still don't know what happened to the other four or where Hinata is now." Shikamaru stated.

"What do you think happened?" Kiba asked.

"We'll have to find out. Someone pick a direction." Shikamaru sighed when Ino and Kiba picked left while Shino and Choji picked right.

"Right it is."

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><p>"Naruto! Sakura-chan! Are you two okay?" Lee cried. He ran over to Naruto who was thrown against the labyrinth wall. He was covered in scratches and bleeding. Sakura was already healing his wounds, leaving hers for last. Tenten and Lee had managed to scare the Hinata-looking child away into the labyrinth's mist.<p>

"Yeah, we're fine Lee."

"What do you think that was cause I don't think it was Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I've heard how spirit worlds show you people you have lost, or miss. Sometimes people you've never seen before." Tenten said.

"But Tenten, we know Hinata and we haven't lost her." Lee mentioned. "But Neji-"

"It could be some demon or spirit trying to keep us from going back. Sometimes when you want to delay or distract someone, your enemies use the illusion of a child. After all, no one who sees an abandoned child will leave it alone." Sakura said, standing up after she healed her wounds.

"Well of course it had to be a demon. Hinata-chan's eyes don't turn red and she would never attack us. We're her friends."

"I don't know Naruto."

They all looked around to find them still in the labyrinth. With one small difference. This time, instead of a child in their way, there was a door.

"Let's open it." Naruto claimed.

"Wait Naruto! We don't know what's behind that door. We don't even know what else is in this labyrinth and world. After who-or what-we encountered, we need to be careful." Sakura said.

"But Sakura-chan, despite what might be on the other side, it may get us out of the labyrinth and back home."

"Yeah, and Neji said that we all came here, we all leave. If one of us leaves, we all do. Right?"

Since Sakura couldn't ignore Lee and Tenten's logic, she agreed to opening the door. Although they lost their friend and teammate, his logic and reasoning rubbed off on them.

The four walked to the door, Naruto placed his hand on the knob and turned.

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><p>Left. Right. Back. Sideways. Hinata was getting dizzy. She was running everywhere to find her friends after she heard the scream. She was also still trying to find Neji. She started to wish that she had gone with one of her other friends rather than following the ghost of her dead cousin. Now she was alone, but she wasn't going to give up.<p>

She was so determined to find someone, anyone, that she didn't realize the random door in the labyrinth until she ran to it, opened it, and left the maze.

She froze in her tracks when she realized that now she was in a room. All around her was blue. Blue drapes, walls, bed. She noticed that besides the bed was a small bassinet and inside, a baby. She walked up to the baby and gasped when she saw who it was. Although he was only a young babe, she would recognize her cousin anywhere.

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><p>If you can figure out which famous story I am borrowing, please put your answer in the reviews. No peeking. :)<p>

Also, I wonder where Shika's gang is going and what room Naruto's gang is entering. ;)


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